In the worst kept secret of the new year, Stephen Harper has officially ousted Rona Ambrose from the Environment portfolio, replacing her with Treasury Board President John Baird.

The reason widely given has nothing to do with the environment itself but rather Ambrose's failure to "sell" the Conservatives Clean Air plan. That statement demonstrates the Conservative's true approach to the environment better than any analysis could - that the role of the Environment Minister is to convince Canadians to accept a Conservative environmental approach that bows to industry while offering no results on air quality or global warming for decades and no plan on how to achieve any.

Conservative sympathizers and right leaning commentators will be quick to all for "time" to allow Mr. Baird to introduce his "vision". They will applaud the latest regurgitation of the call for "results" and to "consult" with industry.

No one else will buy it.

Unless Mr. Baird quickly tables a plan that promises more than rhetoric, he is putting Canada on a fast track to another election - a result that is more than likely so long as Harper's ideal of an ideal Minister is a successful salesman and not an environmental leader.